


Uncle Magnus’s Got a Brand New Bag

by LadyTorix



Series: MiniMegs Week 2019 [1]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Camping, Established Relationship, Family, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Fluff, Found Family, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-07-21 07:10:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19997944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyTorix/pseuds/LadyTorix
Summary: Verity finally meets Ultra Magnus’s Conjunx Endura.





	1. HIM!?!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to my friend [specspectacle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/specspectacle/) for being my beta reader!
> 
> Based on the theme from the 2019 MiniMegs week of, "Family." This was entirely motivated by not getting to see what Verity's reaction to the whole Megatron/Ultra Magnus thing would have been in the canon.
> 
> (I feel like I should probably apologize for that title, but I think we all know that I'm not going to.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MiniMegs Week 2019 Day 1

“Verity, are you positive that you still wish for me to come on this trip?”

Verity rolled her eyes at the vidscreen, “YES. For the last time Uncle Mag--Uncle Minimus. I want you and your--what’s the word again? Conjunct?”

“Conjunx.”

“That, yes. I want you and your ex-con conjunx--who you still haven’t introduced me to, _by the way_ , to come visit Earth for my birthday.”

“Verity, I--”

“Besides! You’re both going to be using your holomatter avatars, anyway. It’s not gonna cause a riot, even if we see other people.”

“I suppose you are right…”

“What are you so afraid of?” Verity grinned haphazardly, locking eyes with the green and white mech on the other end of the call. It was still an adjustment, realizing that she was talking to Ultra Magnus, but whatever he looked like, his wording and inflection were just, so distinctly Magnus.

Minimus sighed, “I am... afraid that you will be disappointed in me.”

“No way! Are you kidding!? I mean, I’m shocked, one--that you actually got FREAKING MARRIED without telling me, and two--that it’s an ex-con, sure. But I’m uber proud of you! It sounds like you actually did something that made YOU happy for once!”

“I…”

“And I think it’s been good for you. You’ve been waaaay more relaxed when we’ve video chatted for the last year or so.” Verity flashed another wicked grin, “And besides--with your ridiculously high standards, how bad could he possibly be?”

Minimus started to say something, but Verity cut him off and ended the call, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Uncle Mins! Stop worrying so much!”

* * *

Verity fiddled with her phone absentmindedly, scanning the woods of the state park nearby. She knew Minimus had been nervous about all this, but with Springer away on Cybertron and the Lost Light passing by, it seemed like as good a time as any to press the issue.

She didn’t care that Minimus’s conjunx was an ex-con, whoever he was. God knows, there’d been enough of those running around these days, all not being terrible ~~people~~ , ~~robots~~ , Cybertronians, for the most part. Really, as long as Minimus is happy, then it’s all good (but she'd still _like_ to meet him.)

She glanced at her phone again. It still wasn’t time yet (technically), but Ultra Magnus was always 15-30 minutes early so she was getting antsy waiting for the time they agreed to meet up.

This really wasn’t his thing--inviting him on a camping trip. But she had a feeling that a more isolated activity would be best, based on Minimus’s reluctance to introduce her to his husband. (Did they still use that word if they’re talking in English sometimes? She’d have to ask.) If nothing else, at least the scenery would be pretty to look at?

Her phone buzzed and she looked down.

A text message from Perceptor flashed across her screen. _‘Permission to use your phone’s GPS location so we know where to transmit the holomatter avatars?’_

_‘Granted! Hi Percy!’_

_‘Hello, Verity. Have fun. Brainstorm says, “hi,” as well.’_

Verity smiled, speaking of unusual pairs… Now that was an unexpected couple.

A flash of light behind her drew her attention. When she turned there were two men standing there.

One was tall and lean, with light skin and grey hair and he wore a long coat that looked like it was straight out of Mad Max. (Shoulder pads? Really?) The other was shorter, about Verity’s height, wearing something that looked vaguely like a uniform, with dark skin and hair, and...a moustache. She wasn't sure how these holomatter things worked but it was so spot on for Minimus’s facial insignia she almost fell over.

Instead she jumped up and threw her arms around the shorter man, giving him a bear hug, “Ah! You’re here! I was getting worried!”

“Yes,” He replied, and returned her hug with a surprisingly warm one of his own. “Forgive our tardiness, we had some difficulty finding the location.”

Verity laughed, “Don’t worry, you’re still a couple minutes early--so right on time, Uncle Minimus.”

“Yes, well…”

His voice didn’t sound exactly like his normal one, but she'd gotten used to the transition from Ultra Magnus to Minimus Ambus so she knew she’d manage this. She stepped back and put one hand on her hip, gesturing to the taller man with the other, “Well, you’d better introduce me!”

The two men looked at each other, their mouths pulled into mirrored frowns. The taller one spoke first, turning back to Verity, “To be clear--if my presence here makes you uncomfortable in any way, then I can leave.”

She felt as if her blood had frozen in her veins. Just as she’d recognize Ultra Magnus’s voice coming from Minimus or his holo avatar, she recognized this one.

_What the hell was Megatron doing here!?!_

“Shit,” She looked back and forth between the two of them as her realization reached the obvious conclusion. No wonder Minimus had been hesitant to bring him. “Shit, shit, shit.” She sat back down, one hand on her forehead, taking several rapid, shallow breaths and looking back up at Minimus, “You actually married fucking--” she gestured wildly to the taller man, “HIM!?!”

Minimus slumped slightly, “I, err...yes.”

Verity inhaled, raised her hand, lowered it, then raised it again before finally speaking, “Okay, well, first. First, I think, I have some questions.”

* * *

After the initial shock wore off, it did, actually--in some ABSOLUTELY _INSANE_ way-- make some amount of sense. At least with how the two of them had put it.

Well, okay--with how Minimus put it. Megatron was clearly trying to not freak her out as much as possible (which was, quite possibly, freaking her out even more). But as much as she could surmise, the Lost Light was a bit of a madhouse, and they had kind of hit it off while commiserating. Which sure, but _Megatron,_ seriously?

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was afraid. Afraid that you would not want to speak to me again, or that you would think I had lost my mind.”

“I do think you’ve absolutely lost your mind! But that doesn’t mean I would stop talking to you. You’re… Well, you’re family.” She paused before reaching for his hand and giving it a firm squeeze. “Some of the only family I have left.”

He squeezed back, “I know,” he replied quietly.

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

“Well,” Verity said, and paused.

“Well?”

She took a deep breath, “Well, I think you still owe me an introduction.”

“Verity, we are both perfectly serious, neither of us will take offense if you want just my company for the next couple of days.”

“Yeah, I know you are,” she stood up, stretching, “but so am I. He’s important to you, and even if I don’t quite get it-- I want to, Uncle Minimus.” She offered her hand down to help him up, “Really.”

He took her hand as she helped pull him up, “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Megatron’s holo-avatar stood some distance away, his back to them both, far enough to give them privacy, near enough to be in sight.

“Megatron?” Minimus said, turning his head towards the taller man.

Megatron glanced over at them quizzically before walking closer.

Minimus gestured between the two of them, “Verity this is my conjunx endura, Megatron. Megatron, this is my, to use an Earth term, niece, Verity.”

Verity stuck out her hand and smiled uneasily, “I’m glad Minimus finally decided to bring you along.”

Megatron nodded, taking her hand and giving it a firm shake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting MiniMegs stuff every day this week, so the last half of this will go up tomorrow!


	2. Uncle(s)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The camping trip continues, Verity and Megatron have a heart to heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MiniMegs Week 2019 Day 2

Okay, so it had been awkward. Like, really awkward.

But more than that--it had also been SUPER WEIRD. SUPER, SUPER WEIRD. Not like, _bad_ weird, but _weird._

Megatron never seemed to know what to do with himself, and he’d been--well, not _avoiding_ her, exactly. But he sort of kept volunteering for whatever random tasks they needed done. Anything that seemingly kept him busy and productive. Unloading the car, check. Setting up the tents, check. Grabbing firewood, check. Buying ice, check.

Not that she wasn’t happy to just be able to talk to Minimus, because she was! She just was really not prepared to deal with someone who had been trying to destroy her planet not that long ago trying to be _helpful._

He wasn’t even terrible company or anything. He’d actually been pretty chill--or calmer than Minimus at least (like that was difficult). 

Admittedly, it _had_ been pretty funny to watch Minimus wrestle with the outdoors for the first couple of days of the trip. (Verity was pretty sure she saw his soul visibly leave his body early on day two, when the poor guy finally gave up on trying to stay perfectly clean.)

He'd even managed to change his holoavatar's clothes into something that was more appropriate for camping by the third morning. It looked like he’d pulled up some old pictures of lumberjacks and copied them. A dark watch cap, green plaid, hiking boots, and real, actual, suspenders. (She fully intended on showing Springer each and every one of the pictures she’d gotten in the past week because it was fucking _amazing._ )

Megatron just elected to ditch his coat and gloves, which as a result was really giving him this old army vet vibe. Like, one of those vets that could definitely beat the crap out of you. A look that, mercifully, had the bonus effect of deterring any individuals who might want to make their displeasure about two men sharing a tent known.

Minimus did enjoy some parts of the outdoors--their ventures onto the many trails near their campsite (despite his absolute loathing of dirt) had actually gone over quite well. He seemed to find relief in the quiet and liked getting to see the scenery. He even enjoyed fishing, once Verity had convinced him to give it a shot.

Megatron had been harder to read. He’d often stay behind to give the two of them some privacy, but at night he’d frequently join in to help Minimus describe some the Lost Light’s more ridiculous adventures. Strangely enough, he was actually a pretty good storyteller. Mostly, though, he was just quiet.

She managed to drag both of them out for some historical tour thing on day 5. Which Verity thought was boring as hell, but at least Minimus was happy. (And he _had_ put up with everything else, so she wasn’t about to ruin his fun.) But it was the first time she noticed the two of them doing anything that even remotely resembled being in a relationship.

They weren’t rude to each other or anything, but Minimus was always kind of ‘brisk,’ with everyone, and that had included Megatron during all the exchanges she’d seen. But now? Minimus was visibly excited (yes, it was _subtle,_ but she’d been around him long enough to tell) and lightly touching Megatron’s arm almost constantly all the way through the tour. That was practically making out by Ultra Magnus standards.

She still wasn’t quite sure how she felt about this whole thing, but in that moment she was absolutely certain--that this was the most comfortable she’d ever seen Minimus the entire time she’d known him.

* * *

Verity sighed contentedly, leaning back against the log they’d hauled over near the campfire, “I’m stuffed.” Three hot dogs had definitely been too much, especially with how many smores she’d followed them with, but it was the last night. If there was a time to indulge on campfire food, this was it.

The little campfire burned merrily, casting an orange glow around the three of them. Megatron was rubbing the small of a dozing Minimus’s back absentmindedly as he added more wood to the fire. Verity’s brain still felt like it was frying in her skull when she tried to attribute that motion to, you know, fucking Megatron. He caught her staring and raised an eyebrow.

She shrugged, “Sorry, still kinda weird.”

“I’d imagine so,” he noted calmly.

Verity shifted to sit up in a more upright position, “I’ve been meaning to ask--how do these holomatter things work, anyway? Are you guys still running around up on the Lost Light doing your normal stuff or…?”

“No, our bodies are both in recharge in our room, but we’re currently linked to a device that allows us to transmit our holo avatars here.”

She tried to ignore the sight of Ultra Magnus and Megatron cuddling. Nope, moving on. “So, why do you guys get tired then? Oh, for that matter, why do you guys need to eat? Or why do you need to--”

Megatron raised a finger to motion for her to wait before scooping Minimus up and laying him down in one of the sleeping bags in their tent, and then returning to the campfire.

He settled in the same spot, careful to keep the distance between her and himself intact before turning back to her. He ticked off the answers to her questions on his fingers as he spoke, “We get tired because we’re using our own energy reserves to transmit our avatars. Minimus has a small frame, and therefore a smaller reserve of energy, even with us both being connected to the ship’s power source. I believe I would be able to function without recharge--sleep here for nearly a week if I so chose.”

“That’s…a really, really long time.”

“For a human, yes. Cybertronians can go for much longer between rest cycles if we really want to. As for food—these forms were created to mimic organic forms of life as closely as possible, but it also doubles as an additional way to help power the holomatter avatar itself.”

“That makes sense.”

The night sounds of the woods crept in around their silence.

“May I ask you something?”

“Considering you answered all my questions I think that’s fair.”

“What exactly _is_ the point of camping?”

Verity chuckled, “You know I used to ask the same thing when my dad took me when I was young? I guess…," she trailed off. “I guess the best way to describe its purpose is... To get away? It’s peaceful here, more peaceful than the city. More peaceful than the Lost Light, too, I’d imagine,” she said shooting him a grin.

Megatron snorted, “You have no idea.”

“Rodimus?”

“Rodimus is but one problem in a sea of many.”

“So… Do you love him?”

“Rodimus!?!” Megatron appeared horrified by the very idea.

Verity laughed, “Oh good god no—do you love Minimus?”

“Oh.” His expression softened into something that even she could charitably call gentle, “Yes. Absolutely. I would have never performed the ritus with him otherwise.”

She was surprised to realize that she believed him, after seeing him and Minimus together for the last couple of days. Between all the little signs of affection the two shared, and how tenderly Megatron looked at Minimus when he thought no one else was looking. “Good,” Verity said, leaning back and closing her eyes, “He deserves to be happy.”

“I would hope that if he was unhappy he would tell me.”

Verity cracked open one eye, “Oh, trust me, he’s happy. If he wasn’t, the first thing I would have done was give you an earful.”

“I’m glad to know someone who cares about him as much as I do.”

“Pfft,” Verity suppressed a laugh. “Same, honestly. He’s always such a hard ass, it’s difficult as hell to get to his gooey center. I mean, obviously, I’m an absolutely adorable little troublemaker—but how the hell did you manage?”

“Would you believe you helped?”

“What?,” Verity sat up and looked at him suspiciously.

“It’s true,” He replied firmly. “He had some of that Earth music you’re always sending him playing one day when we were going through reports and it just sort of became a habit to listen to anything new together. We found that we enjoyed each other's company. I would always read his reports too—I was surprised how much that meant to him,” he shrugged, “but then I remember that Rodimus has never read a report in his life and it makes significantly more sense.”

Verity started laughing, “Alright, reports and music. Yeah that sounds about right.”

“Well,” Megatron shifted uncomfortably, looking up at the night sky, “I wrote him poetry, I believe that had an impact too.”

“Now you’re just messing with me. Poetry? Really?”

Megatron let out a short huff of laughter, “Please, I wrote poetry long before I started an uprising.”

“You any good?”

“I was better before the war. The words don’t come as easily now.”

“Ah.”

They lapsed into silence again. The fire crackled. A log crumbled and collapsed. Nearby an owl hooted.

Verity stood up and moved over closer to where Megatron was sitting. “He always seems like the type who’s bad at taking care of himself. Does he get enough rest, or recharge, or whatever?”

“Oh, he’s terrible,” Megatron said with the ghost of a smile. “But I think it helps that we share a habsuite now. He’s far too conscientious to do anything that would affect my recharge, so he ends up recharging with me more often than not.”

“That’s… really sweet. And I can’t believe those words are coming out of my mouth.”

Megatron chuckled, “Some days I don’t believe it either.”

“He talks about you a lot. Even if he didn’t say your name in the vid calls.”

“I wouldn’t know. I make an effort to give him the room when he’s contacting you.”

“Yeah,” Verity paused, “He gets all soppy too.”

“Soppy?”

“Lovesick--happy.”

“Oh.”

She leaned forward and poked at the fire, causing some sparks to fly up, “Thank you for coming.”

“Minimus asked me to.”

“You still could have said no.”

“Could--yes, but I seldom tell him ‘no’ on anything. If he’s asking, there’s either a very good reason or it’s important to him.”

“Yeah, I could see that,” Verity nodded, staring into the fire.

“Out of curiosity, why… Why were you so insistent that I stayed?”

“Probably for very similar reasons for why you came--you’re important to Uncle Minimus,” Verity shrugged. “Like, look--I won’t lie, I was _really_ uncomfortable for the first couple of days, but,” she nodded towards the tent where Minimus was sleeping, “he actually _trusts_ you. I know how hard I had to work to get him to trust me. But you? He straight up _married_ you, so I’m betting you had to work even harder than I did.”

“It didn’t feel hard,” Megatron said, eyebrows furrowed.

“Well, maybe that’s why the two of you work.” She smiled, “Look, I just want him to be happy. _You_ make him happy. And you know what? I can tell, you’re happy with him too. The universe’s a big, weird place and, for what it’s worth, I’m glad you two can be happy together.”

He was silent for a moment, before turning to her, “Thank you, Verity.”

She shrugged and stood up, “You’re welcome. Anyway, I’m getting tired--see you in the morning.”

“Good night.”

She patted him on the shoulder as she walked past, “ _Uncle_ Megs.”

He blinked up at her in surprise but she just grinned back before crawling into her sleeping bag.

What could she say? It really was a hell of a birthday surprise, getting Megatron as an adopted uncle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> You can usually find me (often literally) screaming about robots on Tumblr at [twilight-owl](http://twilight-owl.tumblr.com/).


End file.
